Apparatus for dispensing sheet material

ABSTRACT

A MATERIAL DISPENSER WITH AN OUTLET FORMED BY A DOOR WHICH IS PARTIALLY OPENED WHEN THE DISPENSER IS OPERATED TO DISPENSE SHEETS OF MATERIAL. IN THE DISPENSER, A WEB OF MATERIAL IS SQUEEZED BETWEEN AN IDLER ROLLER AND A DRIVE ROLLER TO PULL THE WEB FROM A ROLL WHEN A POWER SOURCE IS ACTIVATED TO ROTATE THE DRIVE ROLLER. WHEN THE DOOR IS FULLY OPENED TO LOAD A ROLL OF MATERIAL INTO THE DISPENSER, A SPRING ACTS TO YIELDABLY CATCH AGAINST A LINKAGE CONNECTED TO THE DOOR TO HOLD THE LATTER IN ITS FULLY OPENED POSITION UNTIL A PRESSURE IS APPLIED TO THE DOOR TO OVERCOME THE EFFECT OF THE SPRING THEREBY ALLOWING THE DOOR TO BE RETURNED TO ITS CLOSED POSITION.

June 6, 1972 PAGEL 3,667,825

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERIAL Filed Dec. 17, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. B. PAGEL June 6, 1972 APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1970 June 6, 1972 Filed Dec. 17, 1970 A. B. PAGEL APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERLAL 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent O 3,667,825 APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEET MATERIAL Armin B. Page], Janesville, Wis., assignor to Newell Mfg. Co., Freeport, Ill. Filed Dec. 17, 1970, Ser. No. 99,043 Int. Cl. B65h 19/00 US. Cl. 312-39 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A material dispenser with an outlet formed by a door which is partially opened when the dispenser is operated to dispense sheets of material. In the dispenser, a web of material is squeezed between an idler roller and a drive roller to pull the web from a roll when a power source is activated to rotate the drive roller. When the door is fully opened to load a roll of material into the dispenser, a spring acts to yieldably catch against a linkage connected to the door to hold the latter in its fully opened position until a pressure is applied to the door to overcome the efiect of the spring thereby allowing the door to be returned to its closed position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a material dispensing apparatus for dispensing sheets of material from a roll contained within the material dispenser. More particularly, the invention has reference to the type of dispenser which employs a series of rollers including a drive roller and an idler roller for pulling and guiding a web of material from the roll out through an opening. A door, usually on the front of the dispenser, is partially opened to create the opening through which the material is to be dispensed. The door is also adapted to be opened more completely to create a large opening through which a person may place a roll of material within the dispenser.

In loading a material dispenser of the above type, it was the practice heretofore to manually hold the loading door open as a roll of material was placed in the'dispenser. A dispenser of this type is shown by Summersby Pat. 3,384,280.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In its primary aspect, the present invention contemplates a new and improved material dispensing apparatus of the above character in which the door is mechanically held open during the loading process to permit a person to use both hands in placing a roll of material within the dispenser and threading the web over the drive roller.

A more detailed object is to provide a resilient means which will act to hold the door open for loading and at the same time hold the idler roller in an out-of-the-way position within the dispenser so that the web of material may be easily threaded over the drive roller. In another aspect, the resilient means will act to press the idler roller against the web to hold the web in engagement with the drive roller during the dispensing operation.

A further object in mounting the idler roller Within the dispenser is to minimize the effect of the gravitational force of the idler roller acting against the resilient means.

Another object is to provide within the dispenser a 'mechanism which connects the door and idler roller together and acts to cause a loss of motion between the door and idler roller so that, when the door is partially opened to dispense material, the idler roller does not move but continues to press the web against the drive roller. Additionally, the connecting mechanism between 3,667,825 Patented June 6, 1972 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a new and improved material dispenser embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial view similar to FIG. 3 but showing parts in moved positions.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 3 but showing parts in further moved positions.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 6 but showing parts in moved positions.

FIG. 8 is a partial view similar to FIG. 6 but showing parts in further moved positions.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a typical drive train electrically connected to the power source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a power operated dispensing apparatus 10 operable to dispense sheet material 11 in selected quantities from a roll 13 contained within a housing 14. The material dispenser 10, as shown herein, is particularly adapted for home use, being especially suitable for dispensing such materials as paper towels, wax paper, foil or plastic wrap.

With the reference to FIG. 1, the housing 14 of the material dispenser 10 is a generally rectangular box with essentially square, side-end walls 15 and rectangular front and back walls 16 and 17. As shown, the housing is preferably positioned horizontally lengthwise for the dispensing of material 11 through a closable door 19 on the front of the housing. The door 19 is hinged along its top edge 20 to rotate about an axis 21 adjacent and parallel to the top edge 23 of the front wall of the housing and includes a serrated cutting edge 22 extending along its bottom edge. At one end of the door is a small, vertical, rectangular panel 24 behind which is housed a power train 25 and a drive actuating mechanism 26 within the material dispenser. Extending through an opening 27 in the vertical panel is a handle 29 which is connected to the actuating mechanism and is selectively operable to activate the power train to dispense the material from within the housing or to open the door for loading a roll of material into the housing.

As is best illustrated in FIG. 3, the housing 14 encloses a roll of material 13 resting freely lengthwise in a spaced parallel relationship to the backwall 17 on the floor 60 of the housing. Forwardly of and extending parallel to the material roll is a cylindrical drive roller 31 with a short end portion 33 journaled to the side wall 15 of the housirrg. The other end portion 34 of the drive roller surrounds an axial shaft 35 which extends rotatably through a vertical partition 36 to connect with the power train 25. Disposed above and extending lengthwise parallel to the drive roller is an idler roller 39 which is operable to hold a web 3'] of material drawn from the bottom of the roll against the drive roller.

Adjacent the other end portion 34 of the drive roller 31 is the drive actuating mechanism 26 including, a cylindrical hub which rotatably encircles the axial shaft 35 and extends through the partition 36 to be supported by the latter. Connected to the end of the hub adjacent the end of the drive roller is a disk-shaped, door opening cam 41 which is operable to open the door for material dispensing or loading purposes. A similar door opening cam indicated with a prime is located adjacent the short end portion 33 and is connected to the door opening cam 41 by a connecting member 42 which extends parallel to and under the drive roller between the cams 41 and 41'. Secured to the other end of the hub is an outwardly extending annular flange 43. On the front edge of the flange is connected an arcuate cover plate 44 which extends outwardly from the flange and is radially disposed relative to the shaft 35. Secured to the outside edge of the cover plate is the inward end 45 of the handle 29.

A switch actuator member 46 is disposed to fit under the cover plate 44 and comprises a cylindrical sleeve portion 47 which rotatably encircles the shaft 35. An elongated, switch-engaging cam 49 is connected to and extends rearwardly from an external annular shoulder 50 located in the center portion of the sleeve. Secured to and centered substantially on the front half of the outer edge 51 of the shoulder and extending from both sides thereof parallel to the outer surface of the sleeve 47 is an arcuate wall member 53 formed with a gap 54 in its surface to normally align with an outwardly opening U-shaped notch 55 cut in the outside edge of the arcuate cover plate 44. The notch also aligns with a groove 56 in edge 57 of the handle 29 to form a slideway 59 for a key 60 sized to fit within the handle groove.

Thus, when the drive actuating mechanism 26 is in its normal or inactive position, as shown in FIG. 6, the groove 56, notch 55 and gap 54 are in alignment so that the key 60 may be pushed manually down the slideway 59 to lock the cover plate 44 and switch actuator member 46 in rotatable engagement. When the key is in such a position, a downward push on the handle 29 will rotate the switch engaging cam 49 upwardly to engage a resilient switch arm 61 extending forwardly from the rear of the housing 14 and shove the arm upwardly to close a suitable circuit 63 which connects a series of batteries 64 to a drive motor 65 in the power train 25.

The drive motor 65 may be connected to the shaft 35 of the drive roller 31 by any suitable gear means 66. The batteries are located vertically of the switch arm 61, resting on a horizontal panel 67 which extends between the vertical partition 36 and one of the side-end walls 15 to limit the upward movement of the switch engaging cam 49.

As is shown in FIG. 3, normally resting in a U-shaped slot 69 which opens upwardly out from the top edge of the door opening cam 41 is a catcher lug 70 extending downwardly from a connection with the rearward end of a generally triangular wing member 71. The latter extends rearwardly from a fixed connection to the outer end of a rectangular guard bar 73. The guard bar is slidably mounted lengthwise on the inside surface of the door 19 being held against sliding downwardly under the urging of springs 74 by the interaction of the lug and slot. Thus, when the key 60 is in the active position, manually pushing the handle 29 downward rotates the U-shaped slot 69 forwardly so that the back edge of the slot cams against the lug pushing the door open partially to allow the material 11 to pass through an opening 72 created by the partially open door.

Accordingly, to dispense material from within the dispenser 10, the handle 29 is depressed activating the drive motor 65 to turn the drive roller 31 counterclockwise to draw material from the roll 13. Coincident with the activation of the drive motor, the door 19 is partially opened and material is dispensed through the opening 72. The material will continue to be dispensed until the handle is allowed to return to its normally inactive position when a desired quantity of material is accumulated. After the desired quantity is accumulated, the material is pulled upwardly against the serrated cutting edge 22 on the bottom of the door to tear a sheet of material free from the web 37 remaining within the housing 14.

To load the material dispenser 10, the key 60 is placed in an inactive position withdrawn the gap 54 in the wall member 53 of the switch actuator 46, as shown in FIG. 8, so that, when the handle 29 is depressed, only the arcuate cover plate 44 and the door opening cams 41 and 41' connected thereto will rotate to partially open the door 19. At the same time that the door is partially opened for loading, the lug 70 disengages from the slot '69 allowing the spring 74 to slide the guard bar 73 downwardly to cover the cutting edge 22. This allows a person to grasp the lower edge of the door and raise it to a completely open position so that a roll of material 13 may be placed on the floor 30 of the housing 14.

As applied to a material dispensing apparatus of the above general character, the present invention contemplates a novel improvement wherein the necessity of manually holding the door 19 open during the loading operation is eliminated. The interaction of a resilient member 75 and a connecting mechanism 76 which is located between the door and the idler roller 39 is such that the resilient member yieldably resists movement of the door from its loading position. By reason of such resistance, the door is held open in its loading position until a closing force is applied to the door overcoming the elfect of the resilient member which yields and allows the door to be pushed shut. As the door is opened, the connecting mechanism between the door and idler roller '39 acts to cause the roller to move upward within the housing 14 into an out-of-the-way position 77 (as shown in FIG. 5) for loading. The idler roller is held in that position by the same coaction of the resilient member and the connecting mechanism that holds the door open.

In loading the material dispenser 10 of the present invention, the raising of the door 19 pulls forward a rearwardly extending, elongated linkage member 79 which is iournaled to a bracket 80 at the upper inside corner of the door by a hole and pin connection 811. Herein, the linkage 79 comprises, a bar 83 of rectangular cross-section with a hole 84 adjacent its forward end for the pin connection to the door and a lengthwise slot 85 extending forwardly of the rear end of the bar. The rearward end portion of the bar is connected to a short lever arm -86 with upper and lower ends 87 and 89 by a pin 90 secured to the lower end and extending through the slot. Preferably, the lever arm extends upwardly from its connection with the linkage member 79 to rigidly connect on a rotatable shaft 91 near one of the ends of the shaft.

As is shown in FIG. 3, the rotatable shaft 9.1 is located in a spaced parallel relationship adjacent the back wall 17 of the housing 14 and extends from a first hushed connection 93 to one ofthe side walls 15 of the housing to a second hushed connection 93' on the inner surface of the partition 36 of the housing. Additionally, forwardly extending brackets 94 fixed to and spaced at intervals along the back wall 17 are journaled on the shaft for supplemental support. Fixed at the center of the rotatable shaft is a downwardly curving cantilever arm 95 comprising, a plurality of laterally spaced, downwardly curving bar members 96 of rectangular crosssection which are turned vertically edgewise with rearward end portions 97 secured to the shaft and freely extended forward ends 99. Connected between each of the bar members 96 is a downwardly opening U-shaped support member 100. The free forward ends of the bar members fit within matching grooves 101 in the idler roller 39 to rotatably mount the idler roller on the forward end of the cantilever arm.

Thus, as the linkage member 79 is pulled forwardly by raising the door 19 open into the loading position, the coaction of the linkage member and the lever arm 86 will rotate the shaft 91 in a clockwise direction. The clockwise turning of the shaft will rotate the idler roller 39 upwardly into the out-of-the-way position 77 at the upper front of the housing .14 as shown in FIG. 5.

To eliminate the necessity of manually holding the door 19 open during the loading process, the resilient member 75 acts against the lever arm 86 to prevent the shaft 91 from freely rotating counterclockwise to close the door. For this purpose, the resilient member is secured to the upper back wall 17 near the side end wall 15 of the housing 14 and abuts a cam lobe 103 which extends rearwardly from the back edge of the lever arm. Preferably, the resilient member 75 comprises, a downwardly opening U-shaped leaf spring with a fixed leg 104 thereof secured to the back wall 17 and a free leg 105 thereof spaced forwardly of the back wall. .A portion of the downward end of the free leg is bent convexly in a forward direction to press the spring 75 resiliently against the cam lobe. Thus, when the door is opened for loading, the rearward end of the slot 85 engages the pin '90 causing the lever arm 86 to turn the shaft 91 thereby rotating the idler roller 39 into its out-of-the-way position 77 and forcing the lobe cam to ride downwardly over the bent end of the spring leg 105 bending it toward the back wall. As the door reaches its fully opened position, the spring 75 snaps back to catch against the upper side 106 of the lobe cam yieldably holding the idler roller 39 in its out-of-the-way position. Then, owing to lost motion introduced through the pin and slot connections 90, 85, the door will swing downward a slight amount, when it is released until slippage of the pin is stopped by its lodging against the forward edge of the slot (FIG. Once the pin lodges in this position, the action of the lobe cam against the lever arm also yieldably holds the door in its loading position.

To drive the web of material 37 through the partially opened door 19 during the dispensing operation, the idler roller 39 presses the web against the rotating drive roller 31 creating a frictional engagement between the web and drive roller so that, as the drive roller rotates in a counterclockwise direction, the portion of the web pressed between the idler roller and the drive roller is propelled forwardly out through the door opening 72 as more material is drawn from the material roll 13. To accomplish this, the free leg 105 of the spring 75 pushes upwardly on the underside 107 of the lobe cam 86, as shown in FIG. 4, to rotate the shaft 91 and the cantilever arm 95 counterclockwise forcing the idler roller on the free end thereof downwardly against the material web 37 to press the web against the drive roller.

-As shown in FIG. 5, the natural function of the connecting mechanism 76 is to rotate the idler roller upwardly away from engagement with the material web 37 as the door is opened. To prevent this during dispensing and to hold the idler roller 39 in pressing engagement with the web 37, the pin and slot connection 90, 85 between the bar 83 and the lever arm 86 acts to cause a certain amount of lost motion as the door is partially opened. More particularly, the opening of the door 19 pulls the bar across the pin 90 to cause a loss of motion between the bar and the lever arm. Thus, when the linkage member 79 is pulled forwardly by the door as it is partially opened to dispense material 211, the lower end of the lever arm will not be pulled forwardly and, consequently, the idler roller 39 will still be held in pressing engagement with the material web.

Accordingly, when the door 19 is in its closed or partially open positions, the spring 75 yieldably acts to force the idler roller 39 against the material web 37 thereby pushing it against the drive roller 31. If, however, the door is opened for loading, the idler roller is coincidentally rotated upwardly into its out-of-the-way position 77 and is yieldably held from dropping back into contact with the web by the spring acting against the cam lobe 103 on the lever arm 86. Thus, once the door is fully open and set in the loading position, a person loading the material dispenser 10 is free to use both hands to easily place a roll of material 11 within the housing 14.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for dispensing a sheet of material from a roll, said apparatus comprising, a housing, means supporting said roll of material in said housing, said housing having a dispensing opening therein for dispensing said sheet material therethrough, a normally closed loading door mounted on said housing to move between open and closed positions, means for opening said door, a first roller journaled within said housing adjacent said dispensing opening to guide the material from the roll to said opening, a second roller normally positioned so as to engage said sheet material and press it into engagement with said first roller, a member supporting said second roller on said housing for movement away from said first roller, mechanism connected to said member and said door and operable to move said second roller away from said first roller as the door is opened, and spring means acting on said mechanism to hold said second roller away from said first roller and said loading door in said open position to permit a roll of material to be loaded in the housing and the sheet material to be guided over said first roller.

2. In an apparatus for dispensing a sheet of material from a roll, said apparatus comprising, a housing, means supporting said roll of material in said housing, said housing having a dispensing opening therein for dispensing said sheet material therethrough, a normally closed loading door mounted on said housing to move between open and closed positions, means for opening said door, a first roller journaled within said housing adjacent said dispensing opening to guide the material from the roll to said opening, a second roller normally positioned so as to engage said sheet material and press it into engagement with said first roller, a member supporting said second roller on said housing for movement away from said first roller, mechanism connected to said member and said door and operable to move said second roller away from said first roller as the door is opened to permit a roll of material to be loaded in the housing and the sheet material to be guided over said first roller.

3. In an apparatus for dispensing a sheet of material from a roll, said apparatus comprising, a housing, means supporting said roll of material in said housing, said housing having a front with a dispensing opening therein for dispensing said sheet material therethrough, a back wall, spaced apart side walls, a normally closed loading door mounted on said housing front to move between open and closed positions over said opening, means for opening said door, a first roller journaled within said housing adjacent said dispensing opening to guide the material from the roll to said opening, a second roller normally positioned so as to engage said sheet material and press it into engagement with said first roller, an arm member with a free end and another end which is journaled to at least one of said walls such that said free end projects toward said dispensing opening, said second roller being journaled on said free end for movement to and away from said first roller, a mechanism connected to said arm member and said door and operable to move said second roller away from said first roller as the door is opened to permit a roll of material to be loaded in the housing and the sheet material to be guided over said first roller.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said arm member comprises, a pivot shaft extending between said side walls, said shaft being journaled on at least one of said walls, forwardly extending spaced apart members connected to said shaft at the back end portion of said members, and a lateral support member attached between said members.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which spring means acting on said mechanism is operable to hold said second roller away from said first roller and said loading door in said open position.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which spring means acting on said mechanism is further operable to press said second roller against said material to hold the material against said first roller when the material is being dispensed from said roll.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 in which said spring means comprises, a U-shaped member of resilient material having one leg of said U fastened to the inner surface of said back wall and the free leg of said U projecting forwardly, said free leg having a curved cam surface thereon acting on said mechanism to hold said first roller in either said normal or loading position.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 further including, a pivot shaft laterally extending between said side walls and journaled to at least one of said walls, said arm member being connected to said shaft to rotate therewith, and wherein said mechanism comprises, an arm with one end connected to said pivot shaft, said arm having a cam adjacent said one end to cam against said spring means, and a connecting link having one end connected to the other end of said arm by means of a pin and slot coupling and the other end journaled to said loading door, said pin and slot connection acting to cause lost motion when said loading door is partially opened.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1966 Robinson 3l239 X 5/1968 Summersby 225-23 JAMES C. MITCHELL, Primary Examiner 

